Category Archives: Art

Today I had someone call me a “failed artist”. Before you get all irate on my behalf, I’m not offended by this. I’d rather be what this person defines as a failed artist than a successful…I don’t know, pretty much anything else. This person’s definition of a failure is anyone who has the audacity to share less than perfection with the world. All of you creators hear me when I say, we never attain perfection. If we’re waiting on that, no one would ever get to view anything, and that would be a tragedy.

Every piece is a constant work in progress, at least in our minds. The amount of fantastic art left mouldering in someone’s attic, office, or under the bed must be phenomenal, because presenting your art to the world takes bravery. The first attempts are never easy or even good, and I got a reminder on recent trip to Crystal Bridges Museum in Bentonville, Arkansas.

Even the great masters needed practice sketches, warm ups, and failed attempts before their masterpieces came to life. I’m not aspiring to be John Singer Sargent here, but seeing his preliminary sketches for one of his paintings along with those of other world renowned artists was like turning on a lightbulb. Everyone practices. No one ever starts out perfect, wonderful or even good. It doesn’t matter. Make art.

Learn a new skill? Show it off! Got a new camera? Post your pictures! Picked up a pencil or a paintbrush for the first time since you were a kid? I want to see it!

Here’s the thing. Too many people live their lives trapped in “I’m not good enough to do that”. So what? Do it anyway. (Disclaimer: we’re talking art here, people, not death defying stunts. Leave those to the professionals.) Then do it again, and again, and again.

I don’t believe there’s such a thing as a failed artist. There are only those who decide not to try.

Show me what you’re made of. I’d love to see your work too. Post pics or links in the comments.

Oh my, oh my! I can always count on Planet Comicon in Kansas City to be filled with adventure, and this year was no exception. February 16-18 Bartle Hall filled with geeks of all kinds. I’m not wasting a lot of space here on the impressive celebrity lineup, the phenomenal cosplayers (so many great cosplays!), or the after hours events. Just checkout their website or facebook page to see all that great stuff, and, believe me, it was amazing. I’m really here for the comic books and their creators, that’s why I go to these things after all.

The Kansas City area is home to a host of incredibly talented creators including Jai Nitz, co-creator of El Diablo; Freddie Williams II, Batman/TMNT; Jason Aaron, Southern Bastards; and so many others there’s a website for creators in the Kansas City, Lawrence & Topeka area. Creators like Nitz have been participating in this show since its inception, 19 years ago. They also pull in creators from across the country: Scott Snyder, Greg Capullo, Marguerite Bennett, Amy Chu, Tom King, Jason Latour, Jae Lee, Matt Hawkins…and if I added all the wonderful people at this show on my list we’d be here for a looooonnnnngggg time. The wealth of talent at this show is heady.

All the creators means you get some really good panels, and this year was no exception. They scheduled so many interesting panels that there was no way we could get to them all. That was the only disappointment.

When you get Matt Hawkins (Think Tank, Postal), Tom King (Batman), CW Cooke (Solitary), Jai Nitz (El Diablo, Dream Thief), Marguerite Bennett (Animosity, DC Bombshells), and Amy Chu (Red Sonya) together on a panel about writing comics an hour just isn’t enough…not by half. Then there was the drawing comics panel with Jae Lee, Freddie Williams II, and Chad Hardin who manage to talk while they draw some amazing images. There’s always an opportunity to learn something new.

My favorite thing about these events is the opportunity to talk with the creators. These are kind people who are generous with their time. They never hesitate to spend a moment with someone who supports their work, and they’re supportive of those interested in becoming a creator themselves. I never fail to learn something new, and I always walk away inspired. So, this is a big “THANK YOU” to all of the people out there who spend the extra time, support those aspiring to be something more, and for smiling through all the sputtering as we stumble our way through our appreciation for your work.

The Exposition

The week after a holiday at a bank is always a little rough. When you toss in a significant reduction in staff due to…life and things, and the maelstrom of chaos that ensues is enough cause a wee bit of gray matter to leak from the ears. You know your brain is mush when you read your class assignment…several times, and still misread, we’ll just say significant portions of said assignment…significantportions.

Rising Action

Logo by Jessica Thompson

At least I made it a policy to review the assignments one last time before I finalize formats and submit my work. Whew! So instead of needing to complete three small sketches, I need to do six other things. Create clip art, Photoshop masks, logos, or some combination. Fortunately, they don’t need to be completed, just in process. I don’t think tea is going to cut it tonight. Note to self, coffee actually makes me vibrate. Everything gets started, compiled, and the video is completed. Adobe Spark videos are pretty cool, I’m going to have to play with that some more. I breathe a sign of relief, because it is all finished.

The Climax

Kermit by Jessica Thompson

…in time for the internet to crash mid-upload (which is why, girls and boys you never wait until the last minute). Expletive deleted, expletive deleted. You know, because starting an upload 10 minutes before the deadline isn’t stressful enough as it is. Expletive deleted, expletive deleted, expletive deleted.

Falling Action

Don’t panic!

Logo by Jessica Thompson

The assignment is uploaded, the video is posted, the timesheet is completed. That’s 10% of the course grade right there. It got submitted, one minute before the deadline, but that’s still on time. The discussion post…that got posted ten minutes late (stupid, beautiful, internet we have a love/hate relationship), not cool, but only 2%.

Resolution

The perfectionist in me rails at the lateness, my inattention to detail, the threat (though minor) to my GPA, but on the whole I’m just trying to figure out if an adult beverage will help me stop the caffeine fueled vibrating so I can sleep or just change the frequency.

‘Til next time,

Jessica

P.S. Whiskey changes the frequency of the vibrations, dogs don’t care that you didn’t get any sleep, but at least I got pancakes for breakfast.

Have you ever heard of Saul Bass? Even if you don’t know the name, you’re probably familiar with his work. Some of the most recognizable logos in the world were created by his hand, United Airlines, Girl Scouts, United Way, and that doesn’t even touch on his film work. Psycho, Spartacus, Exodus name a few of of the films he designed for. The power in Bass’s work comes, in large part, from its simplicity. His ability to take a big concept and condense it into a few lines is magnificent, and this is my first tiny step toward being able to do the same kind of thing.

The reading woman, by Renoir, captured my imagination from the first moment I saw it. Loose brush strokes and intricate walls seemed like the perfect image to simplify. The challenge would be to capture the energy and vitality of someone engrossed in their reading, at rest yet engaged.

Simplifying the lines of her shirt, skirt, the chair, the background, all that would be simple, but without the right amount of detail, my image would fall flat. After a few false starts, I discovered that utilizing the correct details is the most important aspect of successfully taking a beautiful masterpiece and keeping heart and soul of it intact while removing a lot of the fine details.

Using, a digital image of the Renoir as a reference, I sketched out my concept by hand and then drew my simplified version in Adobe Illustrator. A few touches of gradients in place of the highly intricate wallpaper in the original served to spotlight her sillouettte. I also shifted the overall color tone to something a little cooler. As the variances in color were removed, I discovered that my piece required more color contrast to keep it from becoming a warm toned blob. I’m really happy with the final product, and I hope Renoir would be too.

I’m a big fan of stories. Aren’t we all? One of my classes called on us to create a symbol for a story. We got to choose from a list of about 30 or so stories, all of which were well-known (to me at least). As usual, my issue stemmed from having too many favorites. I never can pick just one. I spent three days creating Mad Hatter top hats for Alice in Wonderland before realizing, they were just hats. Beautiful hats, but no one would have any idea which story I referenced when they looked at them. Technically, I fulfilled the requirement of the assignment, but not the spirit of it.

I did the assignment again. Yep, that’s right. I did it again. Now, I can’t claim my symbol is an oriflamme, but maybe the story it represents does?

Hello! Long time, no blog. I know, believe me. The absence has been felt. However, I’m back. In part, thanks to my 2015 New Year’s Resolutions, but mostly because I missed this too much not make it a part of my life.

Things I’ve discovered since starting my new job. A job in which I talk with people all day long eats my words if I don’t nurture them carefully. For too long, I’ve come home exhausted and unable to string together a coherent sentence. (Hopefully, that is better now.) This will stifle writing like…well, like forgetting how to talk will stifle a conversation.

However, this did not stop my creative drive. At. All. In fact, without the wonderful outlet of the written word, the need to create got a little manic sometimes. Drawings, paintings, quilting, crocheting, playing music, Legos (of course) all stepped in to take over, and I’ve produced some really great stuff.

I missed my words though. Like most of us who are driven to write, it is more who we are than what we do, and when that part gets locked away for whatever reason, it feels, for me anyway, like a wound that won’t stop aching. During the “wordless time” whenever I tried to write, the ache got worse because if the mocking cursor on the blank screen drew anything out of me, it was disjointed. Reviewing what I’d written was more painful, because the form (rambling though my style may be) was shoddy and little sense could be made from the pitiful scraps I was trying to sew together.

This being said. Please bear with me as I try to find my voice again. I feel a bit like Peter Pan with his wayward shadow. It is out there somewhere. I. Just. Have. To. Find. It.

I’ve also been left with stacks of really great art, and no idea what to do with it. I may be turning to all of you for some advice once I get an idea of how to part with these pieces…if I can part with it.

Art is a funny thing. I feel deeply that it is meant to be shared, for what good is a vision no one else sees. Why put pen to paper or brush to canvas unless you want to share your vision with someone else. Right? However, as an artist I feel particularly vulnerable whenever I let someone look at my pieces, much less go home with them. Luckily, I’m convinced I’m not alone in this. (Thank you Amanda Palmer for The Art of Asking. I’ll tell you guys more about that one a little later.) I also need to part with some of this so I can make room for more new pieces. (My house should not overflow with stuff.)

Life ate my brain for a while. I’m sorry. I think it is better now. I hope. Maybe?
‘Til next time,

Have I mentioned lately that I love Twitter? Well, I do. I find some of the greatest stuff there! For example, today I haven’t even been on Twitter, but I got an email from them with tweets I may be interested in. (You know the one I’m talking about). Typically, I just delete the email and move on. Really, I get too many emails (especially since I started applying for jobs online, 30 emails a day with results from job searches!). This time the title Neil Gaiman Follows the Guiding Light of Instinctcaught my attention, and I opened it up. My mom may read this and see a bit of inspiration from him in the story I just gave her to edit (it is based on something her sister told her that scared her when she was little. Oh yeah, she’s thrilled to be my editor on this one). Seriously though, I love reading his stuff. The Ocean at the End of the Lane, Fragile Things, Stardust, Smoke & Mirrors…really, I haven’t found anything I didn’t enjoy.

This New York Times article delves into a bit of why we like to be scared by horror and frightening stories, they discuss his Carnegie Hall performance that is coming up the end of June, and his creative process. His thought process as a kid reminds me a lot of myself. I was always thinking of “what-if” scenarios…then torturing my sister with them. When I asked if she thought I could scare someone in 2,000 words or less she didn’t even pause. She interrupted me with a resounding “Yes, definitely!”. If anyone would know, she would. I practiced on her for our entire childhood…maybe I still use her as a guinea pig. (Sometimes, I wonder why my family puts up with me. I just gave my mom her childhood boogeyman to edit for me…hmm…best not ponder this one too much.)

The Truth is a Cave in the Black Mountains has been released in a special edition with the Eddie Campbell artwork, and, for those of you lucky enough to attend the Carnegie Hall performance, you’ll get to hear him read this to music by FourPlay string quartet and see the artwork. You can purchase an edition of the book with illustrations by Eddie Campbell as well. (Since not all of us can score tickets to Carnegie Hall…) If you are attending this show, please email me or comment to tell me about it!

Did you ever play the “what if” game? You know, making up terrible scenarios and stuff?

I love May. Although it is insanely busy, there’s a lot of good stuff that happens in May. I headed to the Oklahoma Renaissance Festival at the Castle at Muskogee over the weekend to see good friends, take in some music, and add to my ever-expanding collection of cool unique things. Mission accomplished.

The girls who introduced me to Renaissance Faires and I piled in the car early on Saturday morning to make the short drive over to the Castle. We ran into my friends who exposed me to the wonderful, terrible joys of Cards Against Humanity as soon as we walked through the gates. I got to meet some new people, and catch up a bit before one of the kids wanted to see knights beat on each other. (Always entertaining.)

From there we headed over to visit the lovely Yolanda Pears of Royal Eggs. She makes the most beautiful things, and she does it all with real eggs. Ostrich, rhea, emu, peacock, pigeon, quail (and probably more that I forgot about) all make an appearance in her art. As always, temptation abounds when I visit her. They’re all so pretty, but I only have so much money!

Fortunately, I narrowed down my list to four pretty quickly, and decided to let fate play a hand in which one I would bring home with me. This time, the newly hatched Pegasus called my name…and my budget, plus the fire dragon went home with someone else. The Pegasus is beautiful, and he now holds a place among the other fantastical creatures I’ve acquired from Royal Eggs along the way.

However, Yolanda is not the only talented artist to cross my path at the Castle at Muskogee. This year, I stumbled across someone new, and was immediately entranced by her designs (she’s just a couple of spots down from Royal Eggs). She makes the most gorgeous and unique hats and jewelry. Lilly B. Haven‘s work pulled me in from the boardwalk to take a closer look. Her hats, in particular, are just awesome, and I wish that I had some photos to show you. Each one is a one of a kind piece, and as I was telling my friend, even if you can’t think of a place to wear them, they are works of art. They would make an amazing addition to any wall they graced.

For me, I was drawn to the jewelry with bullets as a design element. I fell in love with the angel wings surrounding a bullet with stars as an identifier as well as a Winchester Colt 45 in front of a sunburst. Not only did I find them to be cool as hell, but I thought it was also a nice, mostly subtle, way to show my appreciation for one of my favorite shows, Supernatural.

Okay, for those of you who haven’t gotten sucked into this fandom yet, read this. The ultra short version is that Supernaturalfollows the Winchester brothers as they hunt the things that make you afraid of the dark (unless you watch Doctor Who, then you know that the reason you’re afraid of the dark is the Vashta Nerada). A special Colt with demon killing powers features heavily in the first few seasons, so finding a Winchester Colt 45 bullet at the center of a design that caught my attention, just seemed too perfect for words. Between the angel wings and stars inscribed on the bullet, I had no hope of resisting the pin.

While the designs weren’t inspired by the show, both the ladies in the booth are fans of Supernatural, and loved the fact I made the connection. By the time I finished talking with the lovely ladies there were hugs all around, and I was cursing my hectic May schedule that wouldn’t allow me to come back and visit the festival another day.

The whole day turned out to be wonderful, with friends, music from favorite pirate groups The Musical Bladesand The Jolly Rogers. Great stories set to music with Alexander James Adams, who plays and sings beautifully. It wouldn’t be a faire without stopping to listen for a few minutes. There was so much to see and do that we had to pick our favorites for the day, but, as always, it left us wishing for more time.

Even the one negative from the day, I lost my wallet, turned into a testament to the goodness of people.

A couple of days ago, after a rough start to my week, I got a Facebook message from someone I don’t know saying that she and some friends found my wallet. They sent it back to me via Certified Mail. They didn’t even take money for postage out of my cash. Just in case you were wondering, there really are good people out there. (Yes, they are definitely getting a “thank you” card, and maybe a little something extra for their trouble)

LEGO Master Builder Steve Gerling has one of the best jobs…like ever. He builds Lego models for a living. The tiger at the Bronx zoo is one of his creations. (check out the interview to see even more awesome pictures). Have I mentioned how much I love Legos? Hmm?

How would you like this dude’s job? I really enjoy Legos. Now, my creations are nothing compared to Steve Gerling’s, but oh, the ideas I have now. Sign me up!

Photo from Huffington Post. 150,000 piece recreation of Helms Deep

Just in case that wasn’t enough to inspire you to get playing, Huffington Post has some fun Lego facts for you. This is an image from their article…that looks a bit different from the Helms Deep I made…

Well, I don’t even know if the big one would fit in…any one room in my house. It just goes to show “You mustn’t be afraid to dream a little bigger, darling.” (Eames, Inception)

‘Til next time,

Jessica

P.S. I want to send a “thank you” out to all of my friends and family who send me awesome little tidbits like this one! You guys are awesome.

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